Welcome to the IPMS/USA Reviews site!

Introduction: The primary organization of the IPMS/USA Review website is by IPMS/USA National Contest Class. Within each Class there are sub-menus by kits, decals, books, etc. The Miscellaneous Class is for items that are not class specific or that cross two or more classes.

IPMS/USA Members: We encourage you to submit reviews, both here and to the Journal. To volunteer for membership in the IPMS/USA "Reviewers Corps" and submit your own reviews, please read the Guidelines For Submitting Product Reviews.

Manufacturers, publishers, and other industry members: IPMS/USA is pleased to offer your company the opportunity for product reviews. All product reviews are performed by IPMS/USA members, and are posted in the publicly-accessible section of our website. With very few exceptions, we perform full build reviews of new kit releases, aftermarket products, and supplies. If you would care to provide product samples for review, please contact John Noack, IPMS/USA 1st VP.

To learn more about IPMS/USA, please see our About Us page.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost provides Su-9 air scoops consisting of eight parts. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses making the parts easy to review and then stuff securely back into the package. The supplied instructions address the replacement of the corresponding Trumpeter parts.

Quickboost has molded the air scoops perfectly in tan resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost air scoops provide no mold seams to sand off on these tiny parts along with the superior detail.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. They will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.50

Aires has come out with a nice upgrade for the Eduard Bf 108 series of kits with their horizontal control surfaces set. There are four parts in all, cast in a durable resin material. The Aires parts allow you to alter the position of the elevators and provide improved stabilizer to elevator detail. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Aires replacements. I’ve included photos of both the Eduard and the Aires horizontal surfaces inserted in the Eduard fuselage.

Aires has molded the stabilizer and elevator perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Aires stabilizer and elevator are supplied on a single resin sprue with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$22.95

Eduard continues to release great photoetch sets for many kits and this is no exception. This is for Eduard’s own Gloster Gladiator kit 1145. This set adds a lot of missing detail that really adds to the kit. The photoetch parts are for the:

  • Cockpit sidewalls
  • Internal guns
  • A complete seat
  • Cockpit doors
  • Control surfaces
  • Cowling hinges
  • Exterior parts
  • And a few more

In the packet is:

  • 1 photoetch sheet
  • 1 instruction sheet
  • Summary

This is a must have set for the Eduard kit as it makes it into a great model with all you need to super-detail the aircraft. The only issue I found was that the seat was not easy to install.

Thanks go to Eduard for providing this set to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.

Book Author(s)
Walter Schuck
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$18.95

“Luftwaffe Eagle” is a first-hand account of one pilot’s experiences during World War II. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I offered to review this book for IPMS, but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised!

This book was first published in 2007, in the author’s native language of German. It was translated into English by John Weal in 2008, and first published in English in 2009 (in hardcover). This release is the first time it has been available in softcover format.

This combination of the author’s style of writing and the superb (and fluid) translation make this book a pleasure to read. The author begins with a brief summary of his childhood years, then dives directly into his Luftwaffe training and subsequent postings. Each section is filled with personal anecdotes, while steadily following the timeline.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$4.39

This is my second review of Brengun Carrier tie downs. The first was the “cross” style. This is the newer, more modern star type.

These items are used as the anchor for tying aircraft or anything else that needs to not move, to the deck. A hook at one end of the tie down is put around one of the star legs and the other end is adjusted to hold the aircraft in place.

On the WW2 wooden deck carriers, the tie down anchor was a long piece which ran from one side of the deck to the other, replacing one of the boards in the wooden deck. After the Navy went to steel decks and angle deck carriers, they used a cross type anchor.

Today’s supercarriers use the star type anchor. They can be either yellow or white, depending on what year you’re doing the model. I kind of suspect that when the deck tractors changed over from yellow to white, the anchors changed color too.